


The Arc of Ascension, Fragment e10,2: The Smell of Cordite and Hot Metal

by bzarcher, solarbird



Series: Of Gods and Monsters [41]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Comfort, Engineering, Engineers, F/F, Love, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Oasis (Overwatch), Perception, Reinvention, Symbolism, Talon Emily (Overwatch), Talon!Emily, Weapons, changes, inventions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 05:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15308808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher, https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarbird/pseuds/solarbird
Summary: The new gods have risen, ready, at last, to grapple with a world of heroes. Moira O'Deorain herself has been reborn, now made one of the creations her previous self meant to rule, and she works with her wife - the goddess Mercy - and their ensemble of new deities to remake the world, toimproveit... for everyone.Widowmaker wants something new. Something a little less Talon, and a little moreher.Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Ascensionis a continuance ofOf Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Creation, a side-step sequel toThe Armourer and the Living Weapon. It will be told in a series of eddas, sagas, interludes, fragments, texts, and cantos, all of which serve their individual purposes. To follow it as it appears,please subscribe to the series.





	The Arc of Ascension, Fragment e10,2: The Smell of Cordite and Hot Metal

_[Late May, 2078]_

The smell of cordite, hot metal, and lubricants never failed to give Danielle Guillard pleasure.

Even when she had simply been Widowmaker, before she’d begun to realize she could be more, those scents meant at worst the practice range, training, and the satisfaction of a day well spent with her armourer, and on better days, the thrill of combat - the ecstasy of a challenging kill - the feeling of being _alive_ in the best of ways.

Now, as she carried a slab-sided case into her wife’s workshop at the Ministry of Defense, she couldn’t help but smile a bit nostalgically as she looked around the weaponsmith’s domain.

“Hey, Blue,” her wife called from where she was making a careful adjustment to the firing pin on her own rifle, “back for your ten standard sets?”

They smiled at the private joke as Danielle hoisted the case up onto an open workbench, and snapped open the latches.

“I was hoping for something different, today,” her wife replied.

Emily finished her work and quickly had her own counterpart reassembled, giving her a loving caress before she walked over to see. “Nothing wrong with her, is there? You seemed pretty pleased with the new lubricant.”

Danielle shook her head. “No, she performs well, as always - your adjustments were perfect.” She lifted the lid, and pulled out her recon visor from where it had been nestled in the protective foam. “I wanted to speak to you... about this.”

“Oh?” Emily took the visor, turning it over in her hands as she began to check over the mechanism, then glanced at the case, where the grappling gauntlet, mine launcher, and combat suit had been tucked into their own slots. “Having trouble, gorgeous? Things seemed fine yesterday - something not working as it should?”

“Mechanically,” Widowmaker explained, “everything is fine. But it is all work working...as _Talon_ designed it to work.”

Oilliphéist gave a soft little ‘ahh’ as she set the visor down on the bench, then gently cupped her wife’s cheek, closing her eyes as Danielle took that hand into her own, nuzzling into it as well. “Less them, more... _you?_ ”

“Yes,” Widowmaker nodded to the woman who had been her template, those years ago. “Exactly! I am... I will _always_ be the spider. But I am more than that, now, too.” 

Emily smiled as she closed the distance between them for a brief but heartfelt kiss. “Aren’t we all? But you more than most.” She stroked her wife's cheek again, perhaps a bit distracted. “ _So_ beautiful,” she whispered. Then she shook her head a little, took a step back, and reached for the visor again, her professional side taking over. 

She turned the visor over in her hands, staring into the clusters of red lenses. “You know, I never really _liked_ these. A bit over the top, honestly - more about style than substance.” She turned it over and activated it, looking into the infravision display. “Gave me a bit of a headache every time I tested it for you.” She put it to the side, then reached for a notepad she could sketch ideas on, and huffed out a little bit of a breath, resetting herself. “So. Same function, better form?”

“ _I_ like the lenses,” Danielle pouted slightly. “They intimidate. They are inhuman, as is the spider, _as am I._ But..." She considered. "Perhaps... something more streamlined? Still recognizable, but…” She frowned, not quite able to put what she wanted into words. “Something _new._ But still able to show _exactly_ who they are dealing with, when appropriate.”

“Ooooh, of course” Emily smiled as she began to put a few lines on paper. “It has to do _that_. After all - it’s for _you_.” She laughed to herself as she put a few notes down, then pointed to the visor with her pencil. “Here. Put it on?" She glanced over to the case. "Put _all_ of it on, actually. The launcher, the grapple, everything. And stand over there.” She pointed towards one of the few open walls in the workroom. 

Widowmaker did as she was asked, then activated her visor, letting it wash her sight in comforting shades of red. “Better?”

“Perfect,” Oilliphéist assured her as she began to draw. “Now... now, I can see _you_.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the eleventh instalment of _Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Ascension_. To follow this story, [subscribe to the series via this link](https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024), rather than to the individual works.


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